Washington, D.C.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Compensation Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
U.S. Army Garrison – Poland
U.S. Department of the Army
Poznan, Poland
Kimberly A. Steide, DPA
Principal Deputy Associate Director
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
08/04/2025
Date
The claimant is a Federal civilian employee of the U.S. Department of the Army (hereafter referred to as “agency” or “Army”), assigned to the Installation Management Command, Europe, U.S. Army Garrison – Poland, U.S. Department of the Army in Poznan, Poland. She requests the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reconsider the agency’s denial of involuntary separate maintenance allowance (ISMA). We received the claim on February 26, 2025, and the agency administrative report on April 14, 2025. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.
The claimant is currently assigned to a Budget Analyst, GS-0560-12, position with the Installation Management Command, Europe, U.S. Army Garrison – Poland, U.S. Department of the Army in Poznan, Poland, effective September 8, 2024. The claimant previously held a position at Fort Eustis, Virginia. On September 14, 2024, the claimant signed a Standard Form (SF) 1190, designating her family’s home address as Vernon Hill, Virginia. However, prior to the submission of her SF-1190, the claimant’s household goods (HHG) were picked up from an address in Williamsburg, Virginia on August 30, 2024. Poznan, Poland is a post, where accompanying family members are not authorized. Consequently, the claimant requested ISMA for her spouse and dependent parents who could not accompany her on this restricted foreign post of assignment. The agency denied the claimant’s request for ISMA on the basis that her current assignment was not the reason for her family’s separation. Prior to her arrival at Poznan, Poland the claimant was physically separated and maintained a separate residence from her spouse and dependent parents while working at Fort Eustis.
To be eligible for a separate maintenance allowance (SMA), an employee must first meet the requirements for a living quarters allowance (LQA). The Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) set forth basic eligibility criteria for the granting of LQA. The DSSR contains the governing regulations for allowances, differentials, and defraying of official residence expenses in foreign areas. Under DSSR section 031.1, LQA may be granted to employees recruited in the United States.
In addition to LQA, an employee eligible under the DSSR section 031.1 may also be eligible to receive SMA under DSSR section 031.2. SMAs are available to employees under the provisions of the DSSR section 261.1.a, which state:
SMA is an allowance to assist an employee to meet the additional expenses of maintaining members of family elsewhere than at the employee’s foreign post of assignment. [italics added]
ISMA is a type of SMA which, under DSSR section 261.1.a(1), may be granted because of dangerous, notably unhealthful, or excessively adverse living conditions at the employee’s post of assignment in a foreign area, or for the convenience of the Government.
DSSR section 261.2 further emphasizes that:
SMA is intended to assist in offsetting the additional expenses incurred by an employee who is compelled by the circumstances described below [in section 262, to maintain a separate household for the family or a member of the family. [italics added]
Section 263.1 Member of Family Not Normally Residing with Employee, provides:
When a member of family would not normally reside with the employee, this individual does not meet the definition of member of family.
Section 040 m. of the DSSR defines “Family or family member” as one or more of the individuals listed in that section including a spouse and/or child “residing in the same quarters as the employee at his/her post or would normally reside at the post except for the existence of circumstances cited in section 262 warranting the grant of a separate maintenance allowance.” “Post” means the place designated as the official station of the employee. The regulations make clear that SMA may be granted only in those instances where the employee would otherwise be compelled to maintain a separate household for a family or family members and thus be burdened with assuming the additional expenses associated therewith.
Based on the facts surrounding the claim, the claimant was found eligible for LQA under the provisions of the DSSR section 031.1. As a result, the claimant was eligible to receive additional allowances under the provisions of the DSSR section 031.2. As Poznan, Poland is a post where family members are not authorized, the claimant was eligible to receive ISMA under the provisions of the DSSR section 261.1.a (1). However, the claimant’s initial move of her household goods was from an address in Williamsburg, Virginia. Although, the claimant submitted documentation showing that she, her spouse, and her parents did reside at a home together in Vernon Hill, Virginia, the claimant did reside at a second residence in Williamsburg, Virginia immediately prior to her relocation to the overseas area. Moreover, based on the record, OPM must question whether the claimant was physically residing at the Vernon Hill, Virginia residence while duty stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It should be noted that the two locations are separated by about 184.4 miles. Furthermore, based on the HHG documentation provided by the claimant, she and her family maintained two residences and lived separately immediately prior to the claimant’s assignment to Poznan, Poland. Moreover, the claimant failed to provide documentation that would definitively establish whether the claimant normally resided with her family in Vernon Hill, Virginia. Therefore, the claimant is denied ISMA under the provisions of the DSSR section 263.1, because her family did not normally reside with her, and it was not the claimant’s current assignment that compelled her to maintain two separate households.
The Department of Defense Instruction 1400.25 V1250 specifies that overseas allowances are not automatic salary supplements, nor are they entitlements. Furthermore, the statutory and regulatory languages are permissive and give agency heads considerable discretion in determining whether to grant ISMA to agency employees. Thus, an agency may deny ISMA payments when it finds that the circumstances justify such action, and the agency’s action will not be questioned unless it is determined that the agency’s action was arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. Under section 178.105 of title 5 Code of Federal Regulations, the burden is upon the claimant to establish the liability of the United States and the claimant’s right to payment. Joseph P. Carrigan, 60 Comp. Gen. 243, 247 (1981); Wesley L. Goecker, 58 Comp. Gen. 738 (1979). In this case, the claimant failed to do so. Since an agency decision made in accordance with established regulations and within its discretionary authority as is evident in the present case cannot be considered arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, there is no basis upon which to reverse the agency’s decision, and the claim is therefore denied.
This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within the OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the claimant’s right to bring an action in an appropriate United States court.